Keilidh Cashell has had a hell of a year.
From growing her thriving online beauty fanbase to 2.7 million followers on TikTok alone, to launching her own brand KASH Beauty into the Irish retail market, the Monaghan native has become one of Ireland's most popular makeup mavens.
Best known for her glamorous beats and highly detailed transformations into anything from a Puca, the Irish folklore character, to Wednesday Addams, Cashell has carved out a niche for herself in an industry that has been highly saturated for years.
We caught up with the entrepreneur and content creator at this week's The Year on TikTok event in Dublin's EPIC Museum, where she spoke about building her brand, staying authentic and the makeup looks she'll be trying this festive season.
"It's been crazy, but in the best way, of course", she told RTE Lifestyle. "Still creating content, still posting TikToks but I also have my own brand, KASH Beauty, which has been insane. We actually just launched into retail which is incredible. We're actually the first Irish beauty brand to be in Brown Thomas."
She added that "having a makeup brand was always the end goal, but the fact that it's happened so early on in my career is insane".
For Cashell, however, the focus for now is firmly on being creative with her brand, as she brought in a team of business partners to help her grow the business. "I'll always put my hand up and say I'm not the most business-savvy person, I'm a creator but I do think that's my power, knowing what my strengths and weaknesses are."
Going from content creator to founder of a beauty brand takes serious "balance", she said. "It's putting on the business hat knowing when you're going into the office then also taking off the business hat and going, 'oh my god, what a day!' at the end of it.
"I think it's so important to realise that and, for me, I didn't start up KASH being like, I want to be the best business person in the world. I'm a makeup artist first and foremost."
Being a content creator in a time when anyone can go mega-viral for posting a video they randomly made in their bedroom at 2am must be a dizzying experience, and one that might come with a certain level of competitiveness. However, Cashell remains unphased by the busy community.
"I think it's still fun! I don't begrudge anyone for that, I think there's a time for absolutely everybody, there's enough space for everybody, there's enough followers for everybody."
We've seen so many trend cycles progress through social media in the last year that it can be hard to keep up in real time, but we wondered what Cashell sees as being next on the radar.
"You can't predict it", she said. "I still think personality-based, like talking videos. It used to be dancing all the time, that's done now. I feel like it's more so people waking up in their bed and bringing you along on their day. I think pop culture is a massive thing."
We couldn't resist asking her for her festive party tips before letting her go, and Cashell's advice was to "just push it a little bit more" with your Christmas makeup look.
"You could do your glitter but maybe do a different liner that you had. A lot of people don't actually wear a red lip, they stick to their nudes, so why not try a little bit of red. And it doesn't have to be a full blown red lip, you can do your nude lip liner with your red just in the centre, it gives a more muted red look.
"Glitter, there might be different ways you can wear it, you could wear a little bit in the centre of your lid, on the inner corner.
"It's makeup, it wipes off at the end of the day, so why not get creative?"
